They haven’t run a race yet, but the Rowan Profs men’s cross country team is already off to a great start this fall!

Rowan is ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division 3 in the preseason Atlantic Region poll compiled by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Assocation.

Rowan won the New Jersey Athletic Association meet last year and placed fourth in the Atlantic Region last year and earned an at-large bid to race in the NCAA Championships, where the Profs placed 23rd.

The College of New Jersey and Ramapo are right behind Rowan, giving the NJAC three of the top seven schools in the Atlantic Region.

Here is the full poll:

Rowan also earned a No. 29 national ranking in the preseason poll, which you can find here.

http://www.ustfccca.org/2018/08/featured/2018-ncaa-diii-mens-cross-country-national-coaches-poll-preseason.

The Profs are led by Dan “Fitch” Henry, a senior out of Clearview, who placed second to teammate Kevin Veltre in last year’s NJAC conference meet at Stockton nd

Other South Jersey runners on the Profs’ 2018 roster are juniors Ryan Federline (Cherry Hill East),  Jacob Hellmig (Delsea) and Jason Muermann (Pitman); sophomores Dean Mignogna (Washington Township) and Michael Onu (Cherry Hill East); and freshmen Korey Greene (Ocean City), Jordan Pitt (Vineland), Nick Simila (St. Augustine) and Sean Smithson (Washington Township).

TCNJ also has numerous South Jersey runners on its roster, including senior Jack Wood (Haddonfield), juniors Mike Zurzolo (Cherokee) Chris Coombs (Burlington Township), sophomores Nick Falk (Cherokee), Robert Abrams (Cherry Hill West) and Noah Preihs (Cherry Hill East), freshmen Jack Ennis (Shawnee) and Michael Iannotta (Cherokee), William Mayhew (Delsea), Patrick Mulligan (Haddon Township), Matthew Smith (Cherokee).

Rowan is scheduled to open the season Saturday morning at the Salisbury (Md.) Invitational. TCNJ is scheduled to open at the Blue-Gold Invite on its own campus in Ewing.

After a 13-month injury layoff, English Gardner returned to track and field with a splash, winning the 100-meter dash at the Palio della Quercia in Rovereto, Italy.

Gardner, a Voorhees native and graduate of Eastern Regional High School, ran a meet-record-tying 11.02 and beat a loaded field that included 2016 U.S. champion and Olympic finalist Michelle Lee Ahye and Olympic 400-meter relay gold medalist Imani Lansiquot.

“I expected to run faster, but I am glad I had the opportunity to compete here,” Gardner said.

It was Gardner’s first race since July 12, 2017, when she ran 11.21 at Lignano Sabbiadoro, about 150 miles to the east in Italy. Soon after she shut down with an injury.

The 11.02 was her fastest time since the 2016 Olympics in Rio, when she ran 10.94 and placed seventh.

Gardner’s time makes her No. 7 American this year. Her PR of 10.74 at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene is No. 7 in world history and and No. 4 in U.S. history.